Category Archives: crypto-powered payment processor Seeds

A cryptocurrency platform is enabling survivors of sexual assault with a means to crowdfund whilst retaining anonymity.

Rachel Cook, CEO of crypto-powered payment processor Seeds is hoping to be able to offer assistance to people who have been subjected to sexual assault. Such assistance will now be available as a result of Cook’s contact with a recent user of the site who used Seeds to crowdfund after a personal trauma.

The user in question had been unable to work for several months after being the victim of a sexual assault and approached Seeds in order to retain her anonymity, rather than use other crowdfunding sites which would have required ID possibly connecting her with the incident.

This sparked Cook, a survivor of sexual assault herself, to think about ways in which she could tap into the #MeToo movement and facilitate a more user-friendly way of allowing users in similar situations to profit from using the site. She commented that she wanted users to feel comfortable using the site, feeling that they could come forward with such issues:

“I met this woman in person, by coincidence, and we started talking about the #MeToo movement…Survivors have trouble giving themselves permission to ask for money… The next logical extension I saw in that [#metoo] was we need to talk about how this economic [crypto] system can meet this need.”

Bitcoin is being used to ease a path through other difficult situations where personal trauma is in danger of affecting lives. Cook sees Seeds becoming such a tool. With a simple change to the way the platform operates, Cook has now made it possible for users in such situations to simply request alternatives which she will help them with in order to retain their anonymity. Seeds tokens can be obtained without ID verification, using decentralized platforms such as AirSwap or OX. According to Cook, Seeds anonymous crowdfunding shouldn’t deter those with no cryptocurrency knowledge either.

“We’re reaching a lot of people that don’t think of themselves as crypto-savvy.”